John Kasich comes under fire from GOP gubernatorial candidates at Sunday forum

Monday, 09 October 2017, 07:32:49 PM. There's one elected official in Ohio the Republican candidates for governor seemed to have a problem with Sunday night: Republican Gov. John Kasich.

There's one elected official in Ohio the Republican candidates for governor seemed to have a problem with Sunday night: Republican Gov. John Kasich.

During a forum hosted by Citizens for Community Values at Genoa Church in Westerville, Ohio, U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, Attorney General Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor and Secretary of State Jon Husted tried to put as much distance between themselves and the term-limited Kasich as possible.

Famed pollster Frank Luntz asked each of the candidates about Kasich and his conservative credentials. The answers ranged from lukewarm to questioning if Kasich was even a Republican.

Renacci said Kasich started out perfect, but "diverted" to running for president shortly after: "What's happened is we lost some of those (conservative) values. He lost some of those values. And six years later, he's clearly lost these values where he may not even be a Republican anymore. That's not me talking. That's him talking. ... This is problematic. We cannot have a governor who comes in with Republican values and goes out with Democrat values or Independent values and think that the state is going in the right direction."

DeWine was the least critical of Kasich, but said he would focus more on the opioid crisis than Kasich with a cabinet-level position to tackle the problem: "I think there needs to be a sense of urgency ..."

Taylor said Kasich has made decisions that don't align with conservative values, such as the Medicaid expansion: "Um, you know, I don't know I can answer the specific question conservative or not. I can tell you that some of the decisions made have not reflected what I consider to be good conservative values."

Husted said Kasich's governorship was a mixed bag: "There's been kind of three phases to his governorship. The first phase, I thought he did a pretty good job. He got the budget balanced and set us on a course to believing we were a state that had a future. And then he decided to run for president and then kind of took his eye off the ball in Ohio. But I think by-and-large we were willing to accept that because we voted for him to be our nominee for president. But I think since that time people have been really frustrated that he didn't go to Cleveland and didn't support him in the convention - didn't support Trump in the convention - that he's seemingly with his words been trying to not support the president, or maybe even undermine the president on occasions, and that he's not focused on Ohio as much as he once was."

Rough words for the current governor from his fellow Republicans.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich took some heat Sunday night from the four Republicans looking to succeed him.Ron Schwane, Associated Press

It shouldn't come as a total surprise that the candidates - three of whom serve with Kasich and one - Taylor -- who has been endorsed by him - are trying to put some space between themselves and the governor.

While Kasich is mostly popular - he held a 57 percent approval rating according in July - he's publicly feuded with Republican President Donald Trump on the national stage.

Kasich also led the crusade of Republicans who opposed Trump and congressional Republicans' attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which chafed some conservatives as appearing to side with Democratic President Barack Obama.

He's also openly talked about leaving the GOP.

It's often hard for an incumbent party to hold power, especially during a midterm election in what is supposed to be a swing state. But Trump was very popular in Ohio, winning the state by 8 points in what turned out to be a change election from the Obama administration.

The four Republicans running for governor are treating this like a change election, even though their party is trying to hold the seat now occupied by one of the most prominent Republican voices in the nation - even if it's a voice of dissent.

Kasich's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taylor for 'bump stocks'

Taylor came into the forum and said she was the most conservative candidate. That includes being an ardent defender of the Second Amendment.

Luntz asked Taylor if bump stocks - a gun modification used to mimic fully automatic fire from semi-automatic weapons - should be banned. The devices may have been used by gunman Stephen Paddock in a mass shooting last week in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and more than 500 injured.

"No, it should not be banned," Taylor said. "I think that we can look at are there other regulations that could be considered that would potentially prevent that clip from being used in the future in the way that it was used."

The National Rifle Association - a usually hardline organization on any form of gun control - expressed an openness to banning bump stocks.

Taylor said she would challenge the NRA's position and thought the conversation was focused too much on gun control and not enough on the mental health of the shooter.

However, Taylor also favors ending the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. According to the National Council for Behavioral Health, Medicaid spending accounted for 25 percent of all mental health spending in the United States. Around 29 percent of people who received health coverage under the Medicaid expansion also have either a drug or mental disorder.

Renacci, DeWine and Husted were not asked about bump stocks during the forum.

I want a good, clean fight

Luntz asked each of the candidates how they were going to play nice in a political climate that is quite toxic. Each candidate without fail said they wanted to keep the gubernatorial election civil.

At the end of the forum, Luntz pleaded with the candidates to keep it civil for the sake of political discourse.

However, the campaigns have already turned toxic. Ohio Conservatives for Change, a super PAC supporting Husted, already hit Renacci for comments Renacci made about not needing drug education in schools.

Renacci returned fire, calling Husted a liberal.

Renacci also released an ad called "Fat Cats" that featured three humans dressed as cats who bear a striking resemblance to DeWine, Husted and Taylor occupying the governor's office. The ad criticizes the "Columbus Fat Cats" for failing to be true conservatives.

Renacci said the ad was more about getting his name out to the general public.

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